In the building or construction industry (commercial or residential), a building usually includes a foundation and a structure or superstructure that is used to generally form the building and which structure/superstructure is typically secured to the foundation using any of a number of mechanisms as are known in the art. One common technique used to secure the structure/superstructure to the foundation is to establish a mechanical connection between the foundation and the structure/superstructure where one part of the mechanical connection is embedded (e.g., cast in) in the foundation.
In commercial buildings such as office buildings, high rise tenement building (condo or apartments), stores (e.g., department stores) and mixed use buildings, structural steel or other material appropriate for the intended use, is typically used to form the structure/superstructure of the building and the foundations are formed using cast in place concrete which typically includes some form of steel re-enforcing (e.g., re-bar). These foundations also are formed so as to include one or more anchoring devices (e.g., bolts, studs) which form one part of the mechanical connection which secures the metal structure or superstructure to the foundation. In the case of wood frame residential buildings, one or more anchoring devices also are cast in the concrete footings or walls making up the foundation which are secured to the wood frame (e.g., sill or sill plate) by a mechanical connection such as for example, bolting or threaded connection.
As indicated herein, for foundations designed to accept structural steel buildings, an anchoring device 20 (FIG. 1) is installed in the foundation so the superstructure can be securely attached to the foundation on which it bears. The common practice in the past and present day is the use of an installation of anchor bolts 22 or studs that are cast into the foundation at a specific location, and elevation. More particularly, the building is engineered so as to specify a specific pattern of anchor bolts having a predefined spacing and orientation as well as specifying the size bolt (e.g., ¾ in., 1 in., 1½ in., 2 in., 3 in. etc.) and bolt material that are to be cast in the concrete.
A conventional anchor bolt is typically a steel member (e.g., high strength steel member) having a lower portion that is cast or embedded into the foundation and an upper threaded portion that is set plumb to accept a nut 21 and washer which will couple the structural steel member such as a column to the cast in place foundation below. The lower portion also is typically configured and arranged so it can be cast in the concrete and having a lower portion that is formed so as to include a portion that extends at an angle (e.g., perpendicular) to a long axis of the anchor bolt. The structural steel member or column is typically welded to a base plate of a designed or specified thickness, varying from column to column or member to member, with an identical bolt pattern in the foundation to which it will be set upon. Such specifying, designing, configuring and arranging is such that the mechanical connection that is formed can withstand anticipated static and dynamic design loads and forces on the specific connection. Such anchor bolts are placed in foundation walls, pilasters, and interior spread footings.
A common practice or technique for setting anchor bolts 22 or anchoring devices 20 in place involves the use of an anchor bolt template 30 whether it is made of wood on the jobsite, or to use the leveling plate in which the structural member or column will later be set upon. Such an anchor bolt template 30 is typically set on a spreader 40 which spans from one side of the concrete form 50 to the other side. The concrete form being the form created so as to control the formation of the concrete structure which the structural member or column bears. The location of the template 30 is set by field engineers or surveyors before and during the concrete casting process. Most often center lines are drawn upon the template and engineers survey and set the location by a transit and tape measure, or most commonly by a Total Station Instrument, combined with the use of a surveyor's prism. In this way, the location and elevation of the individual anchor bolts is set to the desired values.
When placing concrete in the forms, however, the resulting pressures move the forms and anchor bolts laterally. See for example, FIG. 1 which illustrates rotation of the anchor bolts as the concrete is being placed in a footing form. As a result, those pressures pairing with the flowing concrete inside the formwork 50, 60 require the realigning, straightening, and plumbing of the forms as well as the anchor bolts following the casting process (i.e., before the concrete can set-up). After realigning the forms and relocating the anchor bolt template to its desired location, the anchor bolts must me plumbed up manually.
It is typical on most foundations that the plans call for different anchor bolt projections out of the foundation due to the varying base plate thicknesses of the structural member or column. This routinely presents a problem for the anchor bolt installer when forming wide foundation spread footings. When forming wide spread footings, deeper spreaders 40 (e.g., 2×8 inch material) are needed to be able to handle the weight of the anchor bolt template and the additional weight of one or two men placing the concrete, in addition to the man checking and adjusting the anchor bolts after concrete placement is complete. The deeper spreader creates the problem of minimal bolt projection above the supporting nut for the installer to accurately plumb the anchor bolt when in its final state in the curing concrete.
Because of this reduced projection, a common practice that has developed is to pull the anchor bolt up through the template outwardly from the concrete to allow the use of a torpedo level or Spirit level. The torpedo level is then placed against the vertical plain of the bolt on two perpendicular sides of each individual bolt in the template. Once the bolt is plumbed using the torpedo level, the anchor bolt is then manually pushed back down into the wet concrete until it again contacts the supporting surface of the template. As the bolt plunges downward into the concrete, however, there is no way to insure the anchor bolt or bolts are truly plumb or remain plumb. Typically, the downward plunge is many times misjudged which results in the bolts being misaligned and needing costly adjustment after the concrete is set and the forms stripped and removed from the placement. Too often the anchor bolts or anchoring devices 20 are out of plumb and in different directions from the other bolts within the same template. Anchor bolt as-built's or final locations are performed usually within a day or two after the casting process. Quite often, however, the anchor bolts are found out of plumb during the as-built process due to the issues stated above.
As indicated above, using conventionally installation techniques, the anchor bolts are out of plumb and in different directions from the other bolts within the same template. As a result, any one of a number of actions may be required to correct the as-built condition of a given bolt to the as-designed location. Such actions increase costs for the lost time associated with correcting the condition as well as possibly causing a delay in schedule which can equate to increased costs. Also, in some cases the structural member or column (e.g., baseplate therefor) is modified to suit the as-built condition of the anchor bolts, such as for example cutting the baseplate off the column in the field and then welding a replacement baseplate onto the column also in the field.
It thus would be desirable to provide a new device and related methods for positioning and plumbing an anchoring device in its final set location. It would be particularly desirable to provide such a device and related methods that would allow one to easily obtain accurate as-builts of the anchoring device locations when cast in place. It also would be desirable to provide such a device and related methods which would minimize the time and expense associated with miss-located anchoring devices as compared to prior art devices and prior art methodologies.